Opposition MPs force emergency committee hearing on North Korea

The Conservatives and New Democrats want to know just how prepared Canada is to respond to a potential attack on North America. They’ve teamed up to force the Commons defence committee to hold a special session to consider an opposition-backed proposal to “immediately convene” emergency meetings to hear from expert witnesses from both inside and outside government.

The letter, which was co-signed by both opposition co-chairs — Conservative MP Cheryl Gallant and lone New Democrat member Randall Garrison — as well as Conservative defence critic James Bezan and Conservative MP Pierre Paul-Hus, was sent to committee clerk Elizabeth Kingston last Wednesday.

In it, they note that “over the past few weeks, there have been several reports documenting significant advancements” in North Korea’s “intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities” — developments that “have a direct impact on the defence of Canada and North America.”

Under House rules, upon receipt of the letter, committee chair Stephen Fuhr was obliged to call a meeting within five days to discuss the proposal.

That meeting is scheduled to take place Tuesday afternoon.

In their letter to the clerk, the opposition members served notice that they intend to put forward a motion to examine “Canada’s current threat assessment of North Korea,” as well as “Canada’s ability to defend itself and our allies in the event of an attack … on the North American continent using intercontinental missiles, conventional weapons and/or non-conventional weapons of mass destruction.”

There is, however, no guarantee that the proposed study will actually happen — or, if it does, that it will get underway “immediately.”

The motion will require the support of a majority of members to proceed; in this case, that means at least one Liberal MP must vote in favour. Liberal members also could use their majority power to amend the motion as drafted.

As yet, the government hasn’t indicated whether it intends to advise its members to vote in favour of the opposition proposal.

In response to a query from iPolitics, a spokeswoman for Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan declined to elaborate on what, if anything, Liberal MPs have been instructed to do with the motion.

“As you know, the committee is master of its own destiny,” Jordan Owens pointed out via email.

She did, however, also note that the government has “already committed to examining, through NORAD modernization, territorial defence against all perils, including threats from cruise missiles, ballistic missiles, and other future technologies to provide Canadians with greater security at home.”

Speaking with iPolitics on Monday morning, Bezan said he hasn’t yet gotten any firm indication from his Liberal colleagues on whether they will back the motion.

“We’ll see what tomorrow brings, but I think all of us should be concerned,” he said — not just based on the reports of North Korea’s missile capability, but all the “threats veiled and unveiled” that it might pose.

“I think it’s important, not just for committee members but for Canadians, to get a good sense of what the Canadian Armed Forces are doing.”

To that end, if the study does go forward, he’d like to hear from Sajjan, as well as possibly Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale as well on the “what-if worst case scenario.”

Other names on his witness wish list include Chief of Defence Staff Jonathan Vance and other senior Canadian commanders, plus defence and security experts like Colin Robertson and David Bercuson, who are both affiliated with the Canadian Global Affairs Institute.

As for the timing, he’s hopeful that, given the committee’s already packed agenda, they’d be able to organize at least two full days of hearings before the House is set to return.

For their part, the New Democrats seem to be at least cautiously optimistic that the Liberals will back the motion.

Although it was Garrison who signed the letter on his party’s behalf, the NDP currently plans to have New Democrat foreign affairs critic Hélène Laverdière represent the party at the committee table tomorrow, which would give her the opportunity to reiterate her party’s oft-stated concern over the government’s seeming reluctance to take the lead on global nuclear disarmament.

Meanwhile, the Conservatives likely will focus their concern both on Canada’s overall state of military readiness and the still open question of whether it’s time to formally join the United States in its anti-ballistic missile defence program.

Earlier this month, Bezan noted, via Twitter, that during his party’s recent defence policy review, “Canadians told [the Conservative party] that Canada must be part of BMD to defend against rogue states like North Korea.”